Astrofest a BIG success!
Indiana University's Department of Astronomy has much to celebrate at the beginning of the new Millennium -- a long, rich, history, a renewed and vigorous present, and the promise of an exciting future. To celebrate two important events, the reopening of a renovated Kirkwood Observatory and the 90th Birthday of Professor Emeritus Frank K. Edmondson, the Department will be hosting a variety of events for friends, alumni, the University community, and public. We hope you will be able to share some or all of these festivities with us.
News Releases:
IDS (Indiana Daily Student)
Ask an Astronomer Answers
Julie England
What is dark energy?This is a tough question. The Universal expansion is now though to be accelerating, that is getting faster and faster. Since gravity is the only force acting, and gravity can ONLY be attractive, something must be creating this negative force (the acceleration can only happen if the galaxies are being pushed apart) this repulsive force has been dubbed "dark energy".
Chris Nering
If the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into?The Universe is "everything". There is nothing outside the universe. Two possibilities: (1) the universe is truly infinite. Infinity is a strange and non-intuitive number. But it essentially means that as the universe expands, it doesn't grow any "larger". How can infinity get larger? (2) The universe is finite. Under those circumstances, the universe is unbounded. Like a 2-dimonsimal bug walking on a sphere, the bug never comes to an edge. So the universe gets bigger but does not expand into anything. Weird as this is, it just gets bigger.
Dianne Robertson
Kirkwood Observatory is usually open every clear Wednesday evening when the University is in session from Spring Break through mid-November (when the weather is good). No reservations are required. You and your family are welcome to stop in whenever the observatory is open.
Many organizations are available to help people get involved in amateur astronomy. One of the best is the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (www.astrosociety.org), which publishes Mercury Magazine and which supports a large astronomy education effort. You might be interested in their Teachers' Newsletter, and they also offer books about hands on classroom activities in astronomy.
Two amateur astronomy clubs can also be found in this area: The Stonebelt Stargazers in Bedford (http://www.mainbyte.com/stargazers/) and the Indianapolis Astronomical Society (http://www.iasindy.org/). Both clubs meet monthly and offer help with telescopes and opportunities for star parties.
For really serious amateurs, the American Association of Variable Star Observers (www.aavso.org) offers opportunities for amateurs to make observations of variable stars to contribute to the astronomical literature. We hope you enjoyed Astrofest, and that you continue to enjoy astronomy as a hobby.Altan Erdemir
What is the future of human space exploring?
As always, the future is hard to predict! It's been thirty years since humans landed on the Moon, and there are no immediate plans to go back. On the other hand, NASA is busy building the International Space Station, and also is developing long-range plans for a mission to Mars. But we have a lot to learn about surviving in space before the long trip
to Mars (and back!) can be undertaken safely. I'd like to believe that humans are in space for good, but I think it will be a while yet before we are ready to explore much beyond near-Earth space.
Meanwhile, humans have a great program of robotic exploration of the solar system. The Cassini mission to Saturn just sent back its first image of Saturn itself (see http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm or http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02884 to see the picture), and several missions to Mars are planned in the next few years.
Missions to Europa (one of Jupiter's moons that may harbor life), and to Pluto are also in the planning stages. We hope you enjoyed Astrofest, and that astronomy continues to drive
your curiosity!
